Customer Reviews

Nymph Fishing in Practice

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Oliver Kite's most noteable work is surely the perfect antidote to anybody whose brains have been addled by George Skues, Peter Gathercole and possibly even Charles Jardine.

These flambouyant and learned gentlemen artists of the fly credit the trout with colour vision and a palette that would embarass Monet. Whereas Ollie Kite was a tank training officer, based near Salisbury, with only two fairly drab fly patterns in his box. If he had studied art, he would certainly have tended towards minimalism.

His patterns were 'Kite's Imperial' and the 'Bare-hook nymph' - neither of which are ever likely to find their way into the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the Tate Modern.

Inspired by his monochrome patterns - I went to a clear, spring-fed lake where Mr Jardine's own children learned to fish - to see if it was really possible to catch a trout on a bare (silver) hook. And it was !

What Sir Charles Jardine attempts to achieve by iridescent impressionism, Olly Kite achieved in the previous generation by giving the rod a twitch, or the line a pull and making the fly dance. I'm the first to admit the seductive effect of both these approaches.

But I still have yet to find out what Charles Jardine has for breakfast.